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The Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway was a railroad that operated in the U.S. states of New York and Pennsylvania.

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Western New York & Pennsylvania Railway
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Overview
HeadquartersPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
LocaleEmporium, Pennsylvania and Mahoningtown, Pennsylvania to Buffalo, New York and Rochester, New York
Dates of operation18951955
PredecessorWestern New York Railway and Northwestern Pennsylvania Railway
SuccessorPenndel Company
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length586.145 miles (943.309 km)
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History

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Destroyed in 1968 in the name of Rochester's urban renewal, this station served first the WNY&PRR and then the Pennsy.
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WNY&P System Map c.1900

Incorporated in 1887 as the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad from the reorganization of the Buffalo, New York, and Philadelphia,[1] and reorganized in 1895 as the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway, this American transportation system was acquired and leased by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1900 [2][3] and merged into the Penndel Company in 1955.

The route that the line followed from Emporium, Pennsylvania across the state line to Olean, Hinsdale, Cuba, Belfast, and Rochester was laid, from Belfast north, on the bed of the abandoned Genesee Valley Canal. A house of Italianate design was purchased on Main Street West at Trowbridge Street and converted into the Rochester station.[4]

The 1895 to 1899 period of this rail system's operations saw revenue inadequate to pay the bond interest; these financial problems were contemporaneous with the Pennsylvania's need to expand into western New York. Moreover, this expansion did not raise competitive issues with the Pennsy's principal rival, the New York Central. Thus, on August 1, 1900, the WNY&PRY signed an agreement with the PRR under which the latter operated the former. Although the WNY&PRY did not generate much profit in this arrangement,[5] it did improve matters for the Allegheny Valley and the Philadelphia and Erie roads; so the net result was satisfactory to the Pennsylvania.[6]

Eventually, the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway became the Pennsylvania Railroad's Buffalo and Allegheny Valley Division.

Note the date of the small branch from Scottsville to Garbutt. While the route map clearly shows this line in 1900, other sources equally unambiguously date it to the summer of 1907.[7] The branch was abandoned in 1944;[8] no trace of it remains today. The Pennsy station has disappeared – even photographs of it are exceedingly rare – and the railbed cannot be discerned in aerial photographs of the area south of Oatka Creek.[9])[10]

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See also

References

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